(Transcribed from memory by Lucius Modestus, disciple of Sator – Codex Umbrianus, Fragmentum II)
Scene: A sunlit grove beside the Etrurian monastery. Marcus Domitius Sator faces his former mentor, Maenius Crispus, under ancient oaks.
Maenius Crispus (stroking his salt‑white beard):
“A strong mind, Marcus, is first and foremost mastery—imperium—over every passion and impulse. Like a fortress, it must hold fast against the siege of emotion. Without control, the soul is at the mercy of the world’s caprice.”
Sator (eyes fixed on the horizon):
“Control is but one forge of strength, Crispus. A mind may rule its passions yet shatter beneath unrelenting trial. Endurance—patientia—is the hammer that tempers will through suffering. A blade left untested grows brittle.”
Crispus (raising a brow):
“Endurance devoid of governance yields only stubborn obstinacy. A tree that bends in the storm survives; one that endures without yielding breaks. True strength lies in measured restraint.”
Sator (leaning forward):
“Measured restraint requires sight—claritas—to discern when to yield and when to stand. Clarity is the lantern in the dark arena of the mind. It reveals the shape of fear and the path of action. Without it, control and endurance are blind.”
Crispus (softly):
“Clarity without discipline is mere drifting light, illuminating nothing of substance.”
Sator (voice rising):
“Discipline, endurance, clarity: these are not rivals but consorts in the council of virtue. Control is the arrow’s shaft, endurance the bow’s tension, clarity the aim that unites both. A strong mind is the unity of all three—each virtue reinforcing the others in harmonious strength.”
Crispus (nodding, conceding):
“Then we agree: strength is not a single virtue, but the accord of many. Yet tell me: which must lead?”
Sator (smiling with grave conviction):
“Clarity. For sight guides restraint and tempers trial. In the forge of the self, we strike only where we truly see. Virtus fit sub pondere, yes—but only when the mind’s eye discerns the perfect point of strike.”
Marginal Note (Lucius Modestus):
Thus concluded the debate. The master and his mentor rose, clasped forearms, and walked in silence beneath the oaks, each carrying fresh embers of insight for the fires to come.
Marcus Domitius Sator
Montes Etruriae, Anno MDCCX
